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"Tastes So Good" Wholemeal Soda Bread

Ingredients

500g Shipton Mill Organic Stoneground Wholemeal Flour (I have used mixes of spelt and even some rye flour for a change)

50g Seeds (Sunflower, pumkin, poppy, as you fancy)

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda (sometimes I add a little more)

2 teaspoons of caraway, mustard or other spices (alter quantity to suit your taste)

1 teaspoon Mustard Powder (optional)

50g grated veg (eg. carrot, beetroot, courgette), cheese chunks or chopped nuts (eg. walnut) or dried fruit or chopped apple (as desired or not)

200ml plain yoghurt

200ml milk (I find 400ml of these in slightly different balances also work well, if you are running out of yoghurt)

Flour to dust worktop (I find semolina or polenta adds a nice touch on the crust)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 190/200 degrees C for Fan or 210-220 degrees for conventional oven.

Mix all ingredients except the milk/yoghurt in a bowl, make a well in the centre and then add the liquids and quickly mix together into a dough.

Dust your worktop and turn the dough onto it. With floured hands, lightly fold and shape into a ball. Put onto a lightly-floured baking sheet, cut into 4 making a cross and pull up the middle corners - the quarters are almost separated but not quite.

Alternatively, you could divide the dough into 2 and make two smaller loaves, or divide it further into 8 small but very filling rolls!

Bake the large loaf for about 40 minutes - test that it is cooked by tapping the underneath to hear it sounding hollow. Smaller sizes may need less time - 20-25 mins for rolls or 35 min for smaller loaf. BUT always test it to decide and cook for longer if needed.

Lovely eaten fresh, but I find it freezes well and is also great toasted.

I developed this bread from a recipe I learnt on a course at the WI College at Denman with Alison Haigh.